Update on the MV Portland

Posted by Ashleigh Telford on November 09, 2015

This week, ALCOA workers at the Portland refinery were informed of yet another savage attack on Aussie seafarer jobs with the announcement from ALCOA that they plan to remove the MV Portland from the Australian coast. ALCOA indicated their intention is to replace the ship with a foreign-flagged vessel and foreign crew on $2-an hour wages.

What is important to remember is that product carried by the MV Portland for the past 25 years between Portland Victoria and Kwinana Western Australia is:

Mined In Australia

Refined in Australia

Transported exclusively in Australia

This is AUSTRALIAN COASTAL TRADE pure and simple.

Replacing Australian Jobs with cheaper overseas labour is a greedy and opportunistic move by ALCOA who have not hidden their motivation as being profit-driven, despite the company recording a $44 million profit in the last quarter alone. Not to mention they are subsidised by the Victorian Government to the tune of of $90 million a year.

ALCOA has also been vocal in its support for the Warren Truss Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill which if passed through the Senate next week would effectively destroy the entire Australian shipping industry and put up to 10,000 maritime workers on the unemployment scrapheap.

We stand strong with our loyal and experienced members aboard the MV Portland. MUA officials have arranged several high-level union meetings for early next week with the support of the ACTU. And we are exploring a series of political angles to challenge this move by ALCOA.